Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The People's Choice AwardsHey, kids! Only three more months til new episodes of Outlander!
Hearing that is like a kick to the kilt for any true Outlander lover, ammIright?
Fans have been asking for months now why Starz is holding the second half of the first season until April 4, 2015, and star Caitriona Balfe (Claire) finally just spilled the beans to us:
"I think they just like to play with people. They're mean."
Clearly, she was kidding, but let the record show: We are filing this away in our "Outlander Is a Actually a Secret Conspiracy to Crush the American Spirit" file, which is ever-mounting. (How else can you explain giving us eight episodes of the best new show of 2014, then yanking it away and making fans wait SEVEN MONTHS for new episodes?)
Of course, the real answer is that it's actually pretty smart planning on Starz's part: They know they have a monster cult hit, with a massive fanbase—as evidenced by Outlander's People's Choice Award win last night!—and they are stretching out the episodes they have already shot for maximum effect, giving word of mouth to spread before the second half of the season.
And spreading it is. First there was the "Fall Obsession" E! Online award. (We are nothing if not taste-makers. Just kidding. It was you fans who voted!) And then last night's win for Favorite Cable Sci Fi/Fantasy Show at the People's Choice Awards.
"The fans have been amazing," Balfe gushes (with gorgeous sincerity) to E! News. "They've raised so much money for us already for our charities. And we just we're so beyond grateful."
"They're a very vocal bunch," adds Sam Heughan (Jamie). "A lot of them came from Diana Gabaldon's books, she sold 25 million, and we're really lucky that they transferred across. "
Oh, and speaking of that April return? Caitriona and Sam promise it will not disappoint. "The second part of the season," Caitriona teases, "the action's really going to ramp up. It gets very intense, gets a little dark. Both our characters go through some really rough stuff, but it's exciting and I think everyone's gonna love it."
"There's a lot there for the fans as well," says Sam. "The culmination of this season. It's really exciting place where we leave it." Sigh... Is there a far more severe term for "can't wait"? One that feels as though it were legit life-threatening? 'Cause that's needed here.
Check out the full interview with E!'s Ross Matthews above!
And make sure to tweet me (@kristindsantos) any questions for Sam and Caitriona by Friday afternoon. I'll be sitting down with them for an "interview"—and might even work in a few Q's between my mad bursts of fangasming.
Check my Twitter: @kristindsantos, Facebook, and Instagram (@kristindossantos) for Outlander pics and updates!